A memo to founders & investors
A business worth building.
A future worth investing in.
Dear founder,
I’ve built businesses, acquired them and sold them. Each experience has shaped how I think about ownership, the people behind a company and the decision to bring someone else into what you’ve built.
I’m building Rethink Holdings for founders who know their audience and have earned its trust. You might run a professional community, an event business, a publication, a creator-led brand or a research firm. What interests me is the relationship you’ve built with the people you serve, and what you could do with more room to grow.
Built around what professionals need
Professionals need places to meet, voices they trust and information they can act on. Our thesis brings these needs together through Communities, Content and Insights.
Some businesses unite an industry. Others serve a profession or build a following around a trusted editorial voice. A business can excel in one area or span several. Each should be valuable in its own right, with a clear reason for customers to return.
Communities build relationships through memberships, conferences and events. Content earns attention through expertise and a distinctive perspective. Insights turns specialist knowledge and data into research, benchmarks and information products that help people make decisions.
What a different owner should bring
Growth often asks more of a founder than there are hours in the day. You may want to develop a new product, build a sales team or reach a wider audience while still managing production, finance and the work that keeps the business running.
Our approach is to agree what the business needs, bring the right resources and take responsibility for execution. That can include commercial support, business operations, leadership, capital and technology. We start with the brand, expertise and relationships that made the business worth building.
AI has a practical role in this work. We look for ways to reduce repetitive administration, improve delivery and develop useful offerings around your expertise. We measure the business result after the cost of delivering it. Editorial judgement and customer trust remain central.
Your role in the next chapter
You may want to keep running the company, focus on the work you enjoy most, or plan a transition. That conversation comes early. We agree where decisions stay close to the business, where shared support can help and who is accountable.
We also look for useful connections between our businesses. A relevant event, research collaboration or sponsor programme can create value. Those connections have to earn their place by meeting a real customer need.
A long-term approach to building
For investors, the case begins with the quality of each business: who it serves, why customers return, what they pay for and the resources it needs to grow. We aim to strengthen that business through focused leadership, disciplined investment and operating improvements.
Retail is our operating foundation. Our ambition extends to other professional audiences with clear needs and businesses we can meaningfully help grow.
If you’re considering what comes next, I’d like to hear your story. You don’t need a sale process underway or a finished plan. We can start with what you’ve built and what you want for its future.